NEWS ARCHIVES





News for 2004

22nd October 2004
So, the final event of the year and it's not raining! Marvellous - bloody windy though!

15 people for the last event - not bad, and point of interest, we've had 32 different people play this year which is encouraging - let's just try and get the percentage of those who join as members up a bit!

What of news from around the course I hear you cry - not a lot really. Chris Turvill's head was spotted in and out of the long rough on the 10th - nothing else was seen of Chris - it was that deep! Frazer Webb played safe on the 9th by laying up short of the water, but hit the ball too well and reached the unsafe water - should have been bold and gone direct for the green!!

The final winners of the year were some of the usual suspects. Paul Warren grabbed the Nearest the Pin in 2 shots, but the rest went to Bryan Carter. Not only did Bryan win the Nearest the Pin, he was in fact the only player to hit the green. With that performance Bryan won the whole thing by 2 shots from a hard charging Paul Donlevy.

Well done to all the winners this year, and hope you enjoyed yourself.


The AGM is to be held on Friday 26th November and it is your chance to speak up on how the society is run, and most importantly volunteer to help run things! Be there to be heard - if not you'll loose your opportunity to help organise the running of the society.
17th September 2004
Well we had no rain - marvelous, and 17 players, and 4 guests - excellent!!

A good turnout, a good course, and a reasonably good set of scores, with just 11 points covering all 17 players.

There wasn't much gossip and stories at the 19th hole, mainly as most people we're watching Europe thrash the US in the Ryder Cup! A few events that were seen around the course, was Frazer Webb chipping in from off the green to Par the first Par 5. Matt Turvill teeing off on the 16th and ending parallel with the tee-box but 80 yards left! Frazer Webb on the same hole going OOB with his first tee-shot, and promptly then par-ed the hole with his provisional ball! Paul Risk was having such a bad day he literally only used two clubs in his bag, 7 iron and putter! Another who was having a bad day was Matt Turvill, not least because of his sideways tee shot, but he topped it all off by running and swinging at a spare ball and managing to hit it further and straighter than the proper shot he'd played.

But enough of that, on to the winners. For the first time since we introduced trophies Frazer Webb played well - well enough to win in fact on countback. It's the first time in about 3 years that Frazer has finished in the top half of a competition! :-) The hole winners were Nigel Warren (Nearest the Pin), and Bryan Carter (Nearest the Pin on 2nd shot). Congratulations to all the winners. And don't forget to get your monies paid for the next event by 15th October.


The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

23rd August 2004
The only 36 hole event we do all year and what happens? The worst bloody weather we've had all year!

The plan for the day was 18 holes Texas Scramble in the morning, followed by 18 hole individual Stableford competition in the afternoon.

By tee-off time in the morning the rain had started - it had threatened all morning. By the time the first group got to the 6th hole the course was flooding and the greens unplayable. Game abandoned!

During a very early lunch the rain stopped and we had sunshine! So we decided to try again, successfully completing 9 holes Texas Scramble, immediately followed by the afternoons 18 hole individual competition.

The weather was a distinct spoiler for the day with a number of people not playing to their best. However, the course did not help. Although we have direct evidence that it drains well, the course as it exists now is a mockery compared to the original superb 18-hole course from 4 years ago. That aside, you will not find a friendlier and helpful club - after the ruining of our first 18 holes the Club presented us with a voucher for the whole society to return to play a free 18 holes!

On to the results: in the morning, the Texas Scramble was played in 4 teams of 4. All teams came in under Par, which is normal for Texas Scramble, with Paul Donlevy, Lee Smith, Simon Park and Micky Summers topping the table with 3 under par.

The afternoon Singles competition presented us with our first occasion of a guest winning the event. Under the society rules, although Simon Park is recognised as the winner of the event, the trophy can only be awarded to a member, so Steve Dyett in 2nd place actually gets his name on the trophy for this year. Both Simon and Steve walked of with other prizes though. The winners for the "hole" competitions were: Paul Warren (Longest Drive), Steve Dyett (Nearest the Pin), Chris Turvill (Nearest the pin on 2nd shot).

Congratulations to all the winners, and commiserations to all the players for having to play in that weather!


The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

26th July 2004
Another small group of players congregated in the wilds of Surrey to attempt to play golf again! Upon examining the course map it became obvious we were in for a real treat with all the trees around the course!

The rain held of, but as most people spent most of their time in the trees, they'd have been plenty of shelter anyway. Aside from many people hitting lots of trees, and a few notable escapes from Micky Eagle and Frazer Webb threading 3 wood shots through a dozen or so trees, there was a few other notable events around the course.

Chris Turvill was playing with a suspected broken finger, but played one of the best games this year. However, what was going on in his mind on the 8th tee was beyond us. When he came to tee-up he'd lost his ball. After searching his pockets and not finding it, he realized it was in his hand! :-) John Waghorn on one of the holes, tee'd off by topping the ball into the pond in front of the tee. Upon re-loading he hit a brilliant shot, which unfortunately hit a tree about 75 yards away and promptly bounced back and landed in the same pond! Frazer Webb deciding after a wayward tee-shot to play the 10th hole by going back down the 9th fairway, crossing through the trees and still managed to par the hole!

Less nonsense, let's get onto the results. Hole winners first, the two Nearest the Pin holes (one in 2 shots) we're both bagged by Micky Eagle. The Longest Drive was a Turvill domination with Mark T driving the first notable shot, Colin T following by out driving his son, and then Ian T topping his brother by out driving everyone. Well done Ian.

And finally to the overall winner, for the second year running, with the same number of points, the Summer Shoot-out was bagged by Mark Turvill. Well done Mark. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring any prizes with us so Micky, Ian and Mark are all owed bits and pieces next time.

Don't forget, Wildwood is the next event and it's the 36 holer so get practicing!


The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

23rd June 2004
Unfortunately the weather was typical english summer weather, very windy and monsoon levels of rain!

This may have been the reason only 10 people managed to make it to Weybrook Park for a round of golf. Maybe, but it was more likely that people were staying away because of that fact England were trying to stay in Euro 2004 that night!

The news from around the course is very sparse and second hand, as Frazer was otherwise engaged, so all the information has come from Chris Turvill. Apparently there was not a lot happening, mainly because most people were battling there way through the snow and rain storms. The only really notable cock-up was from Paul Warren, on the last Par 5. Nice tee-shot, good second shot to lay up short of the green, then promptly shanked his third shot sideways into the Driving Range - glad to hear those lessons are paying off for him :-)

The food was apparantely very good and the fact that they had a TV there so people could watch the match afterwards was probably another good point as well.

On to the winners though, congratulations to Ian Turvill for Nearest the Pin, Mark Harris for Nearest the Pin in 2 shots. And finally, for the second event running, congratulations to Bryan Carter for topping the results table and walking away with another trophy.


The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

21st May 2004
Well it was a long way to go for a game of golf, and unfortunately only 14 of us undertook the journey. The day was warm but showery and Mark Harris didn't bother taking his water proofs out of his car, so he got wet!

Before we get to the winners and losers, some events from around the course - more than normal for some reason:
  • 1st hole: Mark Turvill, in the first group of the day, following the tradition set by his Uncle Ian early this season, decided that he didn't like his 5-iron anymore and promptly tee'd off and the club head went further than the ball.
  • 6th hole: Mark Harris' day finished badly, but it started even worse as his ball moved on the 6th fairway just as he hit it on his second shot!
  • 13th hole: Nigel Warren, Frazer Webb and a few other players decided to play the course a little bit differently and instead of aiming for the 13th green, were playing for the 17th green instead - a number of very good approach shots were wasted!
  • 15th hole: Micky Eagle trying to decapitate Paul Warren and only succeeding in hitting him in the leg with the ball
  • 18th hole: Mark Harris 3-wooding a fairway shot at full speed 5 yards into Micky Eagles bag
  • 18th hole: Bryan Carter hitting a beatiful tee-shot hitting an old wooden tee-marker and ending up 50 yards sideways into the rough
  • 18th hole: Micky Eagle cracking up under the torrent of winding up from Mark Harris and Paul Warren - cost him at least 2 shots!
  • Every hole: Mark Harris and Frazer Webb loosing about 3 dozen balls between them - not surprising they cam bottom in the tournament


  • And now on to the winners! Again we had two Nearest the Pin competitions, the first on the 9th won by John Waghorn, the second on the 17th by Nigel Warren. The big prize of the day was won by Bryan Carter, who for once didn't come second on countback. Well done Bryan, and also to John and Nigel.


    The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

    13th April 2004
    A nice sunny day, a nice course and a good turn out. Second year running the Bandit's Bowl was held at Gatton Manor and second year running a Bandit won it :-) Aptly named then! More details in a minute.

    Before we get to the winners and losers, there was the ritual malling of woodland by Michael Prevost and a host of other players. A few notable events from around the course were Paul Donlevy, on his first outing of the year, taking a 6-iron to a par 3 when he misread the number of the club thinking he was using a 9-iron - needless to say Paul over-shot the green by a little bit!

    Also a bit of billiards trick shots was seen on the 11th green when Frazer putted from off the green and cannoned into Ian Turvill's ball sending Ian's off down the green and putting Frazer's within 3 inches of the hole! No penalties incurred according to the rules but Frazer was very pleased Ian hadn't marked his ball :-)

    Another season debutant was Micky Summers, who marked his return with some very military style golf ...... left, right, left, right ........ ! Even with this rather long way of playing the course Micky still walked away from the day with something other than a wooden spoon, as he was the only player out of the 16 on the day who managed to hit the green on the 14th with his tee-shot and thus won the second nearest the pin with a shot which was at least 40 feet away from the pin!

    And now on to the remaining winners - well, winner! For it was a single person who grabbed the other Nearest the Pin and overall winner prize - the Big Bad Bandit himself, Paul Warren. Congratulations to Paul and Micky.

    We were also pleased to welcome another new guest in Mark Taylor, we all hope to see Mark back with us again soon.


    The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

    The next event is a new course - Nebury & Crookham - on 21st May - make your intentions known about whether you are playing or not by end of week Friday 7th May.

    22nd March 2004
    A reasonable start to the 2004 season saw 15 players turning up at Leatherhead Golf Club. The weather was forboding with hail forecast, and true to form just as the players got out onto the practice green, it started to piss down!

    In a break in the rain the group set off around a course that was in excellent condition for the time of year, and although there were a few mats to tee-off from, there were no temporary greens and the fairways and greens were in excellent condition although a bit soft in places.

    With there normal regularity most of the players visited the woods at some stage, with a few comments at dinner of various people "having hit more trees than shots today".

    So with the normal standard of play abounding it was a great introduction to some new members and guests. The newbies did not fair too well in their first event, with a brand new guest finally ending up with the wooden spoon (it has transpired since that Andre Dent played with a badly sprained wrist which is now swollen to twice the size! - that's his excuse anyway!) - however Andre did hole a couple of 35/40 foot putts during his round so it couldn't have been bad all the time :-). Hopefully all enjoyed themselves and we hope to see all of them again very soon.

    There was not a lot of news from the course via the normal bush telegraph except for an interesting new club design being pioneered by Ian Turvill. We don't know which make the club is but Ian ended his round with a newly designed 5-iron, with an interesting loft. Somewhere on the course Ian's 5-iron decided to snap it's shaft at about 3 inches below the grip. Ian did not notice anything was wrong with the club until he hit himself in the back of the head with it on the upper part of his swing! The concensus in the 19th was that this new club design would not make Ian his fortune :-)

    Now onto the serious stuff, who won what! The top of the rankings was quite close with over half the field scoring more than 30 points. But the top mark was actually a Mark, our new captain Mark Harris who managed 38 points - 21 of them on the back 9! During his round Mark played consistently well but the 21 point back nine was helped by 2 35 foot putts, one for a birdie and one for par, and a 20 yard chip from deep rough which dribbled into the hole for a par. Congratulations to Mark, commiserations to everyone else.

    There was some consulation for Micky Eagle and Chris Turvill who won the Nearest the Pin, and Nearest the Pin on 2nd shot prizes respectively.


    The Merit stats and handicaps have been updated.

    The next event is close on our heels - Gatton Manor, 13th April - make your intentions known about whether you are playing or not quickly - we need to know by end of week Friday 26th March.

    3rd February 2004
    The starting handicaps for the 2004 season are now published on this web site here. These handicaps include the annual pre-season adjustment and also the specially approved past-winners adjustment agreed at the AGM held on 3rd November 2003.